NECAP Results: Schools see gains in reading, math; Writing mixed

Wednesday

Jan 30, 2008 at 3:15 AMJan 30, 2008 at 5:35 AM

By AMANDA DUMOND

CONCORD — It's a mixed bag of results, but many local school districts are showing modest gains in reading and math proficiency while struggling with writing skills, according to the 2007 New England Common Assessment Program test results released Tuesday by the Department of Education.

NECAP testing occurs in New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island, established in response to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which requires that all states annually measure achievement of students in Grades 3-8, and more recently, Grade 11, whose testing results will be available Feb. 21, state officials said.

For some local districts, elementary students did well in both math and reading, but that achievement faltered for middle school students, particularly eighth-graders, who saw a decline or remained stagnant in reading and math proficiency scores.

@Subhead:Rochester

Rochester experienced that trend, with Grades 3-6 exceeding the state average in proficiency for math and seventh-graders showing modest gains, but eighth-graders showing no growth in either reading or math. Like other districts, Rochester continues to look at ways to improve at the middle school level, Superintendent Mike Hopkins said.

He added that educators also are proud of efforts made to improve reading skills in grades K-3, which are starting to show up in test results, with students exceeding the state average.

While the state average jumped 2 percentage points in reading, Rochester's average rose by six points. And at the local level, the goal of students reaching 90 percent reading proficiency has occurred in at least one elementary school, Gonic School, Hopkins said.

"Now we need to progress at the middle school, and we need to work on interventions," he added.

Overall in Rochester, 70 percent of students were proficient in reading while 64 percent were proficient in math. That's a considerable improvement, Hopkins said, when compared to the 2006 figures of 64 percent proficiency in reading and 59 percent proficiency in math.

"It shows the hard work students and teachers have done in the last two years in Rochester," Hopkins added.

@Subhead:Dover

Dover Curriculum Instruction and Assessment Director Jean Briggs said the city's NECAP scores historically mirror the state average. However, for the 2007 school year the math results in Dover were consistently above the state average, while writing and reading remained average to lower.

For example, in Grade 5 for math, the district was 8 points above the state average of 77 percent proficiency. Students in fifth grade scored 49 percent proficiency in writing, lower than the state average of 52 percent. In reading, Dover fifth-graders were below state average again at 66 percent proficiency compared to the state average of 71 percent.

"We have continued improvement in math as a district," Briggs also said. "We're outperforming the state average."

Because Dover was deemed a District in Need of Improvement in 2004 by not making Adequate Yearly Progress in math proficiency for two years in a row, the district had to create a comprehensive approach to the math curriculum. The district created a math team and worked with teachers to improve the curriculum, as well as with the students in math tutoring programs for all the schools. Through hard work they were able to make AYP in math in 2005 and 2006, and able to exit DINI status after two years, Briggs said.

"We know we still have work to do in writing. We're higher than the state but still really low," Briggs added. "And we want to shore up some of our reading scores. The reading results aren't what we hoped they would be."

Only students in grades 5 and 8 were tested on their writing skills in the 2007 NECAP, but districts did not score as high as they did on the reading and math testing. Statewide, students scored 52 percent in proficiency in fifth grade, while eighth-graders scored 43 percent proficiency. Local districts scored several points below the state averages, though Rochester, Portsmouth and Dover had some of the higher proficiency levels in the area.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, Rochester was listed as a District in Need of Improvement for the third year this school year, and the district recently developed a corrective action plan to try and make improvements.

Part of that plan includes incorporating nonfiction writing into each school day, Hopkins said, because the act of writing, as research shows, ties in reading, math and thinking skills. Other plans including engaging students through better developed teacher-student relationships and encouraging professional learning communities for teachers.

Hopkins also noted that it's too soon to try and guess what impact the NECAP scores will have on No Child Left Behind's newest AYP list, set to be released in April.

@Subhead:Portsmouth

Portsmouth Assistant Superintendent Steve Zadravec said his district has shown very positive trends in the most recent NECAP results, especially in the area of literacy.

"We are seeing some great, great improvements, in particular at the middle school," Zadravec added.

One of the biggest improvements were in results from the writing portion by fifth-graders, with 55 percent of students scoring proficient or above, compared to 37 percent last year. While this means the district is above the state average, Zadravec added the district is still not where it should be. Only 49 percent of eighth-graders scored proficient and above this year, which is a slight improvement over last year and about even with scores from 2005.

All other Portsmouth grade levels, except fifth grade, which scored the same as last year, saw improvements in reading over last year.

The district has put a strong focus on literacy after being designated a DINI last year. Additional early release days and professional development time geared toward literacy this year are something Zadravec expects will lead to even greater improvements in the next round of testing.

The only area where Portsmouth scores declined was in the area of mathematics for the seventh and eighth grades, which were down 5 percent and 1 percent, respectively, over last year, with 71 percent and 73 percent of students scoring proficient or above.

Zadravec said the district is still above the state averages, however, with 63 percent proficient and above in seventh grade math and 58 percent in eighth grade.

"What we want to do with the results is now identify what are some of the things that are working," Zadravec said. "We are going to take it down to the individual student level and see who continues to need help."

State officials also said that annual NECAP testing supports New Hampshire's Follow the Child initiative, which emphasizes personalized learning, timely interventions and following each child's progress over time.

"Not only can we follow groups or cohorts of students as they progress through the grades, but because of annual testing, we can also track the effectiveness of improved instruction at each grade level over time," Education Commissioner Lyonel Tracy said, who also added that the NECAP is only one measure of tracking students' academic progress and success.

Zadravec, like other school officials, credited the gains in students' proficiency to teachers and school principals who focused their efforts and encouraged students to take the testing seriously and do their best.

At the middle school for example, a schoolwide academic pep rally was held before the October tests to get students excited and motivated for the grueling weeks of testing.

@Subhead:Somersworth

Somersworth Superintendent Karen Soule could not comment on the NECAP results because she was still looking the information over, according to Assistant Administrator Sandy Brooker.

NECAP results show that Somersworth School District showed gradual improvement by 1 or 2 percentage points in most grades in reading, while several grades decreased in math proficiency by 1 percentage point.

@Subhead:Milton and Farmington

In Milton, Grades 3 and 4 scored in the 80 percent and 70 percent range for reading, but all grades struggled to score 50 percent or higher proficiency in math, with the exception of Grade 4, which achieved 71 percent proficiency. Farmington's third- and fourth-graders also scored 76 percent and 64 percent, respectively, in reading proficiency, while math scores remained the same or increased by a few percentage points.

Milton Superintendent Bill Lander and Farmington Superintendent Michelle Langa could not be reached for comment.

The 2006-2007 NECAP reports are available online at www.ed.state.nh.us. Click on the Profile logo on the left hand side of the Department of Education home page. Additional resources, information and comparative graphs and charts also can be found at www.ed.state.nh.us/necap.

The first NECAP science testing for students in Grades 4, 8 and 11 also will be given this May.